Jon Hamiltonhttp://krcc.org
enDeaf Jam: Experiencing Music Through A Cochlear Implanthttp://krcc.org/post/deaf-jam-experiencing-music-through-cochlear-implant
When Sam Swiller used hearing aids, his musical tastes ran to AC/DC and Nirvana — loud bands with lots of drums and bass. But after Swiller got a cochlear implant in 2005, he found that sort of music less appealing.<p>"I was getting pushed away from sounds I used to love," he says, "but also being more attracted to sounds that I never appreciated before." So he began listening to folk and alternative music, including the Icelandic singer Bjork.<p>There are lots of stories like this among people who get cochlear implants. And there's a good reason.Mon, 18 May 2015 07:52:00 +0000Jon Hamilton34789 at http://krcc.orgDeaf Jam: Experiencing Music Through A Cochlear ImplantA Database Of All Things Brainyhttp://krcc.org/post/database-all-things-brainy
When the brain needs to remember a phone number or learn a new dance step, it creates a circuit by connecting different types of neurons.<p>Scientists still don't know how many types of neurons there are or exactly what each type does.<p>"How are we supposed to understand the brain and help doctors figure out what schizophrenia is or what paranoia is when we don't even know the different components?" says <a href="http://alleninstitute.org/our-institute/our-team/profiles/christof-koch/">Christof Koch</a>, president and chief scientific officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, a nonproThu, 14 May 2015 07:35:00 +0000Jon Hamilton34625 at http://krcc.orgA Database Of All Things BrainyThoughts Can Fuel Some Deadly Brain Cancershttp://krcc.org/post/thoughts-can-fuel-some-deadly-brain-cancers
The simple act of thinking can accelerate the growth of many brain tumors.<p>That's the conclusion of a <a href="http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(15)00429-8">paper</a> in <em>Cell</em> published Thursday that showed how activity in the cerebral cortex affected high-grade <a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007222.htm">gliomas</a>, which represent about 80 percent of all malignant brain tumors in people.<p>"This tumor is utilizing the core function of the brain, thinking, to promote its own growth," says <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/Michelle_Monje-Thu, 23 Apr 2015 16:15:00 +0000Jon Hamilton33754 at http://krcc.orgThoughts Can Fuel Some Deadly Brain CancersNo Rest For Your Sleeping Brainhttp://krcc.org/post/no-rest-your-sleeping-brain
There's new evidence that the brain's activity during sleep isn't random. And the findings could help explain why the brain consumes so much energy even when it appears to be resting.<p>"There is something that's going on in a very structured manner during rest and during sleep," says Stanford neurologist <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/josef-parvizi?tab=publications">Dr.Tue, 14 Apr 2015 19:45:00 +0000Jon Hamilton33354 at http://krcc.orgSushi Science: A 3-D View Of The Body's Wasabi Receptorhttp://krcc.org/post/sushi-science-3-d-view-bodys-wasabi-receptor
Researchers have discovered the exact structure of the receptor that makes our sensory nerves tingle when we eat sushi garnished with wasabi.Wed, 08 Apr 2015 22:42:00 +0000Jon Hamilton33134 at http://krcc.orgSushi Science: A 3-D View Of The Body's Wasabi ReceptorHackers Teach Computers To Tell Healthy And Sick Brain Cells Aparthttp://krcc.org/post/hackers-teach-computers-tell-healthy-and-sick-brain-cells-apart
Brain researchers are joining forces with computer hackers to tackle a big challenge in neuroscience: teaching computers how to tell a healthy neuron from a sick one.<p>"Sick neurons have a withered appearance, much like a sick plant has a withered appearance," says <a href="https://www.alleninstitute.org/our-institute/our-team/profiles/jane-roskams/">Jane Roskams</a>, an executive director at the Allen Institute for Brain Science.Tue, 31 Mar 2015 19:11:00 +0000Jon Hamilton32750 at http://krcc.orgHackers Teach Computers To Tell Healthy And Sick Brain Cells ApartNo Easy, Reliable Way To Screen For Suicidehttp://krcc.org/post/no-easy-reliable-way-screen-suicide-specialists-say
Even a careful psychiatric examination of the co-pilot involved in last week's Germanwings jetliner crash probably would not have revealed whether he intended to kill himself, researchers say.<p>"As a field, we're not very good at accurately predicting who is at risk for suicidal behavior," says <a href="http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~nock/nocklab/main-people.html">Matthew Nock</a>, a psychology professor at Harvard.Tue, 31 Mar 2015 08:58:00 +0000Jon Hamilton32721 at http://krcc.orgNo Easy, Reliable Way To Screen For SuicideUniversity And Biotech Firm Team Up On Colorblindness Therapyhttp://krcc.org/post/university-and-biotech-firm-team-colorblindness-therapy
More than 10 million Americans have trouble distinguishing red from green or blue from yellow, and there's no treatment for colorblindness.<p>A biotech company and two scientists hope to change that.<p>On Wednesday, Avalanche Biotechnologies in Menlo Park and the University of Washington in Seattle <a href="http://investors.avalanchebiotech.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=253634&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2028354">announced</a> a licensing agreement to develop the first treatment for colorblindness.Wed, 25 Mar 2015 20:39:00 +0000Jon Hamilton32504 at http://krcc.orgUniversity And Biotech Firm Team Up On Colorblindness TherapyMany Doctors Who Diagnose Alzheimer's Fail To Tell The Patienthttp://krcc.org/post/many-doctors-who-diagnose-alzheimers-fail-tell-patient
<p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBJ6XccZnPg</p>Tue, 24 Mar 2015 07:44:00 +0000Jon Hamilton32421 at http://krcc.orgMany Doctors Who Diagnose Alzheimer's Fail To Tell The PatientClues To Autism, Schizophrenia Emerge From Cerebellum Researchhttp://krcc.org/post/clues-autism-schizophrenia-emerge-cerebellum-research
A new understanding of the brain's cerebellum could lead to new treatments for people with problems caused by some strokes, autism and even schizophrenia.<p>That's because there's growing evidence that symptoms ranging from difficulty with abstract thinking to emotional instability to psychosis all have links to the cerebellum, says <a href="http://www.massgeneral.org/neurology/doctors/doctor.aspx?id=16489">Jeremy Schmahmann</a>, a professor of neurology at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital.<p>"The cerebellum has all these functions we were previously unaware of," Schmahmann says.<p>SMon, 16 Mar 2015 22:33:00 +0000Jon Hamilton32127 at http://krcc.orgClues To Autism, Schizophrenia Emerge From Cerebellum ResearchA Man's Incomplete Brain Reveals Cerebellum's Role In Thought And Emotionhttp://krcc.org/post/mans-incomplete-brain-reveals-cerebellums-role-thought-and-emotion
Since his birth 33 years ago, <a href="http://www.communityinclusion.org/staff.php?staff_id=157">Jonathan Keleher</a> has been living without a cerebellum, a structure that usually contains about half the brain's neurons.<p>This exceedingly rare condition has left Jonathan with a distinctive way of speaking and a walk that is slightly awkward.Mon, 16 Mar 2015 07:08:00 +0000Jon Hamilton32094 at http://krcc.orgA Man's Incomplete Brain Reveals Cerebellum's Role In Thought And EmotionMad Cow Research Hints At Ways To Halt Alzheimer's, Parkinson's http://krcc.org/post/mad-cow-research-hints-ways-halt-alzheimers-parkinsons
Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ravage the brain in very different ways. But they have at least one thing in common, says <a href="http://www.scripps.edu/florida/philanthropy/action/lasmezas-profile.html">Corinne Lasmezas</a>, a neuroscientist and professor at Scripps Research Institute, in Jupiter, Fla.Mon, 09 Mar 2015 20:38:00 +0000Jon Hamilton31835 at http://krcc.orgMad Cow Research Hints At Ways To Halt Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Pain Really Is All In Your Head And Emotion Controls Intensityhttp://krcc.org/post/pain-really-all-your-head-emotion-controls-intensity
When you whack yourself with a hammer, it feels like the pain is in your thumb.Wed, 18 Feb 2015 21:49:00 +0000Jon Hamilton31001 at http://krcc.orgPain Really Is All In Your Head And Emotion Controls IntensityBeyond BPA: Court Battle Reveals A Shift In Debate Over Plastic Safetyhttp://krcc.org/post/beyond-bpa-court-battle-reveals-shift-debate-over-plastic-safety
BPA-free isn't good enough anymore if you're trying to sell plastic sippy cups, water bottles and food containers.<p>The new standard may be "EA-free," which means free of not only <a href="http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm064437.htm">BPA</a>, short for bisphenol A, but also free of other chemicals that mimic the hormone estrogen.<p>At least that's the suggestion of a recent legal battle between a chemical company and an academic scientist with business interests in the plastics industry.Mon, 16 Feb 2015 08:42:00 +0000Jon Hamilton30900 at http://krcc.orgBeyond BPA: Court Battle Reveals A Shift In Debate Over Plastic SafetyOnce A Vaccine Skeptic, This Mom Changed Her Mindhttp://krcc.org/post/once-vaccine-skeptic-mom-changed-her-mind
The ongoing measles outbreak linked to Disneyland has led to some harsh comments about parents who don't vaccinate their kids. But <a href="http://juniperwrites.com/">Juniper Russo</a>, a writer in Chattanooga, Tenn., says she understands those parents because she used to be one of them.<p>"I know what it's like to be scared and just want to protect your children, and make the wrong decisions," Russo says.<p>When her daughter Vivian was born, "I was really adamant that she not get vaccines," Russo says.Wed, 04 Feb 2015 08:39:00 +0000Jon Hamilton30343 at http://krcc.orgOnce A Vaccine Skeptic, This Mom Changed Her MindFrom The Mouths Of Apes, Babble Hints At Origins of Human Speechhttp://krcc.org/post/mouths-apes-babble-hints-origins-human-speech
An orangutan named Tilda is providing scientists with fresh evidence that even early human ancestors had the ability to make speechlike vocalizations.<p>Tilda has learned to produce <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/asset?unique&id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0116136.s001">vocalizations</a> with striking similarities to human speech, scientists <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0116136">report</a> in the journal <em>PLOS ONE</em>.Wed, 14 Jan 2015 21:33:00 +0000Jon Hamilton29501 at http://krcc.orgFrom The Mouths Of Apes, Babble Hints At Origins of Human SpeechBrain Scans May Help Predict Future Problems, And Solutionshttp://krcc.org/post/brain-scans-may-help-predict-future-problems-and-solutions
Brain scans may soon be able to help predict a person's future — some aspects of it, anyway.<p>Information from these scans increasingly is able to suggest whether a child will have trouble with math, say, or whether someone with mental illness is going to respond to a particular treatment, according to a <a href="http://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273(14)00967-2">review</a> of dozens of studies published Wednesday in the journal <em>Neuron</em>.<p>The review found "growing evidence that brain measures can predict future outcomes or behaviors," says <a href="http://bcs.mit.edu/people/gWed, 07 Jan 2015 21:58:00 +0000Jon Hamilton29178 at http://krcc.orgBrain Scans May Help Predict Future Problems, And SolutionsHow Anglers Are Learning To Save Fish That Get 'The Bends'http://krcc.org/post/how-anglers-are-learning-save-fish-get-bends
<p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBCx6InWYK4</p><p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGXU8e2hHLQ</p>Tue, 06 Jan 2015 08:52:00 +0000Jon Hamilton29100 at http://krcc.orgHow Anglers Are Learning To Save Fish That Get 'The Bends'A Family's Long Search For Fragile X Drug Finds Frustration, Hopehttp://krcc.org/post/familys-long-search-fragile-x-drug-finds-frustration-hope
For a few weeks last year, Michael Tranfaglia and Katie Clapp saw a remarkable change in their son, Andy, who'd been left autistic and intellectually disabled by <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fxs/index.html">fragile X syndrome</a>. Andy, who is 25, became more social, more talkative and happier. "He was just doing incredibly well," his father says.<p>The improvements came while Andy was taking an experimental drug — a drug made possible by the efforts of his parents.Mon, 22 Dec 2014 08:43:00 +0000Jon Hamilton28537 at http://krcc.orgA Family's Long Search For Fragile X Drug Finds Frustration, HopeA Crowd Of Scientists Finds A Better Way To Predict Seizureshttp://krcc.org/post/crowd-scientists-finds-better-way-predict-seizures
An online contest for data scientists has produced a great leap forward in efforts to predict when someone with epilepsy is going to have a seizure. The winning team used data on electrical activity in the brain to develop an algorithm that predicted seizures 82 percent of the time.<p>That "blew the top off" previous efforts, says <a href="http://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p6213">Brian Litt</a>, a professor of neurology and bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania who helped oversee the competition.Wed, 10 Dec 2014 14:21:00 +0000Jon Hamilton28023 at http://krcc.orgA Crowd Of Scientists Finds A Better Way To Predict SeizuresMedicine's Subtle Art Gives A Man The Chance To Breathe Againhttp://krcc.org/post/medicines-subtle-art-gives-man-chance-breathe-again
Bob Smithson had been in the critical care unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston for more than a week. He had a rare neuromuscular disease, and his 78-year-old body was being kept alive by tubes that delivered air to his lungs and food to his stomach.<p>Then Bob's wife, Pat, got some really disturbing news. The hospital's medical staff wanted Bob to have a tracheostomy, a surgical procedure that would carve a hole in his neck and allow doctors to keep him on a breathing machine indefinitely.<p>Some patients who get a tracheostomy never breathe on their own again.Mon, 08 Dec 2014 10:08:00 +0000Jon Hamilton27914 at http://krcc.orgMedicine's Subtle Art Gives A Man The Chance To Breathe AgainA Drug Might Heal Spinal Injuries By Sparking Nerve Growthhttp://krcc.org/post/drug-might-heal-spinal-injuries-sparking-nerve-growth
A scientist who chose to ignore the mainstream nearly 30 years ago has found a new way to regenerate nerves in the spinal cord, at least in animals. A drug that Jerry Silver, a professor of neuroscience at Case Western Reserve University, helped design a drug that has allowed paralyzed rats to regain bladder function and even walk.<p>The drug works by releasing nerve fibers that have become trapped in scar tissue after a spinal cord injury, <a href="http://neurosciences.case.edu/faculty/silver/index">Silver </a>says.Wed, 03 Dec 2014 21:32:00 +0000Jon Hamilton27729 at http://krcc.orgBlind From Birth, But Able To Use Sound To 'See' Faces http://krcc.org/post/blind-birth-able-use-sound-see-faces
A brain area that recognizes faces remains functional even in people who have been blind since birth, researchers say.Fri, 21 Nov 2014 09:19:00 +0000Jon Hamilton27264 at http://krcc.orgSleep's Link To Learning And Memory Traced To Brain Chemistryhttp://krcc.org/post/sleeps-link-learning-and-memory-traced-brain-chemistry
Almost a century after the discovery that sleep helps us remember things, scientists are beginning to understand why.<p>During sleep, the brain produces chemicals that are important to memory and relives events we want to remember, scientists reported this week at the <a href="http://www.sfn.org/annual-meeting/neuroscience-2014">Society for Neuroscience meeting</a> in Washington D.C.<p>"One of the most profound effects of a night of sleep is the improvement in our ability to remember things," says <a href="http://www.neurobiology.northwestern.edu/people/core-faculty/ravi-allada.html">Ravi AllaThu, 20 Nov 2014 14:56:00 +0000Jon Hamilton27225 at http://krcc.orgEbola Today Could Mean Illiteracy Tomorrow In West Africahttp://krcc.org/post/ebola-today-could-mean-illiteracy-tomorrow-west-africa
Ebola is threatening to reverse years of educational progress in West Africa. The virus has kept school closed for months in a part of the world where literacy rates are low and school systems are only now recovering from years of civil war.<p>In Liberia, many children have been put to work while schools are closed, and Ebola is hurting the economy, says <a href="https://twitter.com/ld4children">Laurent Duvillier</a>, a communication specialist at UNICEF.Mon, 10 Nov 2014 08:06:00 +0000Jon Hamilton26792 at http://krcc.orgEbola Today Could Mean Illiteracy Tomorrow In West AfricaAn Ebola Strategy Brings Good News To One Liberian Townhttp://krcc.org/post/ebola-strategy-brings-good-news-one-liberian-town
In one corner of Liberia, a community has come together to change the course of the deadly epidemic. New cases have been brought to a standstill. This success shows that it's going to take more than extra beds at a ward to stop Ebola.<p>When Doctors Without Borders arrived in the northern district of Foya in early August, Ebola was out of control. Foya was the first area in Liberia to report cases, and the community has been hit hard.<p>"At the peak, there were 125 patients in the center," says Katy Athersuch, the local communications officer for Doctors Without Borders.Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:39:00 +0000Jon Hamilton26237 at http://krcc.orgAn Ebola Strategy Brings Good News To One Liberian TownEbola Is Keeping Kids From Getting Vaccinated In Liberiahttp://krcc.org/post/ebola-keeping-kids-getting-vaccinated-liberia
When Ebola began killing people in the Monrovia suburb of Clara Town several months ago, some residents blamed vaccines.<p>One vaccinator in the town says mothers didn't want her near their babies.<p>"They had a notion that when the people come to the hospital, we would inject them and kill them," says vaccinator Che Che Richardson at the Clara Town Health Center, "because it was the hospital giving the people Ebola."<p>Rumors like that, combined with the closing of many health facilities, have caused childhood vaccination rates to plummet in Liberia.<p>Now thousands of children are vulnerableThu, 23 Oct 2014 08:47:00 +0000Jon Hamilton26058 at http://krcc.orgEbola Is Keeping Kids From Getting Vaccinated In LiberiaFor Healthy Liberians, Life Continues — With Some Adjustmentshttp://krcc.org/post/healthy-liberians-life-continues-some-adjustments
Ebola has killed more than 1,300 people in Liberia's capital of Monrovia. But for the million-plus residents who aren't sick, life goes on even as their city is reshaped by death.<p>On market day, the downtown is teeming with shoppers and merchants and people just hanging out. It almost looks like commerce as usual until you notice all the "Ebola buckets," elevated plastic containers with spigots that deliver a chlorine solution for hand-washing.<p>One of those buckets is next to the hair salon where Angie Gardea does braiding and weaving. Her afternoon is going very slowly.Tue, 21 Oct 2014 20:52:00 +0000Jon Hamilton26009 at http://krcc.orgFor Healthy Liberians, Life Continues — With Some AdjustmentsEbola In Church: A Reverend's Quarantine Spreads The Wordhttp://krcc.org/post/ebola-church-reverends-quarantine-spreads-word
Night clubs have shut their doors. Soccer leagues have been suspended. And a strict curfew is keeping the streets empty at night.<p>But there's one place in Monrovia where people continue to gather despite the threat of <a href="http://www.npr.org/tags/147820238/ebola">Ebola</a>: Sunday church service.<p>Since Ebola broke out in Liberia's capital city, more people have started coming to Sunday service at <a href="http://www.trinitycathedralliberia.org/">Trinity Cathedral</a>, says the Very Rev. Herman Browne.Mon, 20 Oct 2014 08:23:00 +0000Jon Hamilton25938 at http://krcc.orgEbola In Church: A Reverend's Quarantine Spreads The WordBRAIN Initiative Bets on Wearable Scanners, Laser-Controlled Cellshttp://krcc.org/post/brain-initiative-bets-wearable-scanners-laser-controlled-cells
Eighteen months after its launch, President Obama's <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/brain-initiative">plan</a> to explore the mysteries of the human brain is finally taking shape. During separate events Tuesday, the White House and National Institutes of Health offered details about which projects are being funded and why.<p>At a morning press conference, NIH officials announced $46 million in grant awards to more than 100 investigators.Tue, 30 Sep 2014 21:06:00 +0000Jon Hamilton25207 at http://krcc.orgBRAIN Initiative Bets on Wearable Scanners, Laser-Controlled Cells